BMW
A BMW 3 Series Sedan.
- Off-lease used cars are a great way to get your hands on a nearly new car at a large discount.
- iSeeCars.com analyzed more than 4.1 million cars to find the 10 vehicles that lost the most value during the first three years of ownership.
- On average, new cars depreciated at a rate of 35% after three years.
- Cars on this list saw their value fall as much as 52%.
Buying a used car has always been a good way to get your hands on an affordable, yet reliable car. For those looking to get into a nice luxury model, buying a used vehicle also allows you to get one on the cheap.
Recently, automotive search engine iSeeCars.com released a study showing which cars offer the best bang for the buck based on depreciation. After all, why lose money on depreciation when you can wait a few years and let the car's first owner take the hit. With the increasing popularity of new car leasing, there is an ever-growing pool of three-year-old used cars coming off lease.
To create the study, iSeeCars.com evaluated more than 4.1 million cars to see which models saw the greatest erosion of value over the first three years of ownership.
On average, cars depreciated at a rate of 35% over three years. However, iSeeCars found some models depreciating at a rate of more than 50%.
"The rising popularity of auto leases in recent years has led to an influx of cars coming off lease, creating the opportunity for consumers to find bargains on late-model vehicles," iSeeCars CEO Phong Ly said in a statement. "Consumers who take advantage of these best bargains can purchase a three-year-old car for half the price of what it would cost to buy the same car new."
The search engine created a list of the 10 fastest depreciating models on sale in the US. They range from economy cars like the Volkswagen Jetta to large family SUVs like the Buick Enclave. There is also a selection of luxury cars such as the BMW 5 Series and the Mercedes-Benz E Class.
Here's a closer look at the 10 cars with the highest level of depreciation after three years:
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